After almost 10 years making and pouring craft suds in the high mountain valley that inspired its name, South Park Brewing Co. is bidding a fond farewell to Fairplay, and moving to Colorado Springs.

“We are fully moving the operation down there, picking up the whole thing and going into a bigger market,” said Paul Kemp, who founded South Park Brewing with his wife, Megan Sebastian.

South Park Brewing’s last day in Fairplay was March 31.

“We’re leaving behind a lot of great memories, but we’re just excited to get down there, excited to be a part of Colorado Springs personally and professionally,” Kemp said.

Professionally, the brewery will be taking up local residence in a leased and slightly smaller space than the one they’re leaving behind in Fairplay, a popular whistle-stop for outdoor enthusiasts heading to and from the mountains, but where fewer than 800 people get their mail year-round.

A grand re-opening, in the former Smiling Toad Brewery building off 21st Street in Old Colorado City, could come as soon as late spring.

Kemp said he was in the process of relocating both the eight-barrel brewing system, as well as (eventually) his and Sebastian’s household and two teen daughters, to their new home base some 70 miles away.

A former restaurant industry professional and “home-brewer that got out of control,” Kemp said that when he and Sebastian founded South Park in September 2014, it was the only professional brewing game in town.

“We were very excited to be able to bring a brewery to Fairplay,” Kemp said.

In recent years, Frisco’s Highside Brewing opened a location just down the street, so South Park’s departure won’t be depriving the town of locally made craft suds.

Highside produces “a great product, and they’re great people,” Kemp said.